Tag Archives: cooperative game

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines game as an activity engaged in for diversion or amusement. It also says game is a physical or mental competition conducted according to rules with the participants in direct opposition to each other.

Trevor and Danny discuss these two different aspects of gaming.

Are you with Trevor in saying a game has competition with a clearly defined winner, or are you team Danny in saying a game can be an activity where the players just participate to have fun? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Trevor opens up Comanauts to show us the contents. Comanauts is the second installment in Jerry Hawthorne’s Adventure Book system following Stuffed Fables.

This game of exploration and danger builds on the mechanisms first introduced in that earlier title, providing a new experience for more mature players. Comanauts is for 2 to 4 players and should take 90-120 minutes to play.

The locations in this game are based on the main characters mind and prove to be very interesting. The storybook style of cooperative play is also sure to be a hit on game night.

Outpost Siberia is a Cooperative Horror/Survival Card Game from IDW Games

Danny from ZiaComics.com teaches us how to play the Horror Card Game, Outpost Siberia. This is a cooperative hand management survival game from IDW Games. It will take all players working together to beat this game. The threats are serious and you are just as likely to lose (die in the game) as you are to win (survive in the game).

Players select a character from a group of specialized researchers. Each researcher has their own unique abilities. Play begins with players drawing cards from the Outpost deck. Players decide to
either hold on to the cards as weapons or place them in the communal supply. Drawing cards from the Expedition Deck will reveal Events (good and bad) and Threats. Since this is a cooperative game players work together to form a strategy to confront threats and deal with bad events. The goal is survival of the group.

“The challenge Jon and I faced when designing Outpost: Siberia was to capture the tension and strategy of a cooperative survival horror game that played quickly and was built compactly.” Andrews said. “IDW was great at letting us try some inventive solutions to achieve those goals. The end result in both the game and our partnership with IDW, has truly benefited from that freedom.”

Outpost: Siberia comes in a collectible tin. It is the first of four planned stand-alone games from IDW. Each game will be set in a unique location. Look for this game to be on the shelves of your Local Gaming Store in August 2017 with a price point of $19.99,.

Official IDW Games description:

Welcome to Outpost 1, the first science observatory located in the isolated frozen tundra of Siberia! You and your team have been investigating anomalous activities in the region. Recently, things have shifted for the worse. The coming storm is said to be the “storm of the century.” It may last a month or more. Strange howls and buzzing fill the long nights, and yesterday, a crew member went AWOL…or worse. The call for evacuation was made, but it came too late. The long winter storm has set in. There’s no hope of getting help until it clears. Now your crew’s only hope is to use what little resources you have to survive the long winter cold (and whatever’s out there in it). Use your rations wisely, and you may see the sun again.

Outpost: Siberia is a fully cooperative, survival game designed by Jon Gilmour, co-designer of Dead of Winter, and Daryl Andrews that plays with a single deck of cards. Using an inventive dual-facing system, a single card in Outpost can be anything from life-saving supplies to cataclysmic catastrophes. By enduring relentless weather and defeating untamable beasts, players are rewarded with the much-needed tools and food to continually resupply their resources.

Outpost: Siberia keeps the tension high, as players will need to collect their wits and ration their supplies in order to make it through the perpetual perils that lie ahead!

Top 5 Cooperative Games

Zia Comics resident Game Gurus, Danny and Trevor give you their top 5 list of favorite cooperative games. Co-operative play encourages or requires players to work together to beat the game. There is little or no competition between players.

Cooperative board games generally involve players joining forces against the game itself. Usually they can be played without any player in the role of the opposition. The game is typically won by reaching a pre-determined objective. All players lose the game if they don’t reach the objective before a certain event happens.

In some cooperative games, one or two players take on the role of traitor. Traitors typically win if the other players lose. Some cooperative games might have an added layer of intrigue by giving players personal win conditions. In many contemporary cooperative games cards are drawn each turn from a deck of random events. These provide the conflict or challenge in the game and make it progressively more difficult for the players.

We hope a few of the games in Trevor and Danny’s lists were intriguing to you. You can stop in Zia Comics on any Saturday and we can demonstrate/teach the games to you. As always… keep playing games!

We experienced camera issues near the end of the video. Apologies for the audio quality at the end of this video.